Lombardo pleads not guilty to charges

Appearance has `clowning' moments

After nine months in hiding, a clean-shaven Joey "the Clown" Lombardo appeared in federal court Tuesday wearing leg irons and offering wisecracks about his time on the lam.

The reputed mob boss, who was captured Friday in Elmwood Park, pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy that includes accusations of murder and extortion.

Asked if he had seen a physician recently, Lombardo's response to U.S. District Judge James Zagel was true to his nickname.

"I didn't see my doctor since nine months ago. I was--what do they call it? I was unavailable," he said.

Meanwhile, Lombardo's attorney, Rick Halprin, requested that the court appoint him to represent Lombardo because the reputed Outfit kingpin doesn't have the means to pay for his own attorney, he said.

"He's been living off Social Security for years," Halprin said in an interview.

A former federal agent who investigated Lombardo expressed doubt about that.

"That's another ruse--that's Joey the Clown. The guy was definitely making big-time bucks when he was still active," said Lee Flosi, a former FBI agent who supervised the organized crime task force in the early 1990s.

Lombardo was part of the "ruling group" of Chicago's mob, Flosi said.

"As far as being the boss, I don't think that was ever settled," he said.

Halprin said that during Lombardo's many years on parole for previous convictions, he has filed financial affidavits swearing he is on a fixed income.

"He lived in a basement," Halprin said, referring to Lombardo's West Ohio Street home, not his location while on the lam.

Lombardo, 77, was dressed in a standard orange jumpsuit issued to federal jail inmates and had shaved the thick beard he had grown while on the run.

He joked in the courtroom lockup that his fresh look was meant to impress a female deputy U.S. marshal assigned to guard him.

In court, Lombardo initially appeared confused, glancing at lawyers for his 11 co-defendants, the packed gallery behind him and the jury box filled with reporters.

But despite some difficulty hearing questions put to him by Zagel, Lombardo answered lucidly.

Lombardo is one of 14 men charged in a racketeering conspiracy that prosecutors allege involved 18 unsolved Outfit murders. Two of Lombardo's co-defendants have died, leaving 12 to face the charges.

Along with Frank "the German" Schweihs, Lombardo is charged specifically with the 1974 slaying of Daniel Seifert, a Bensenville businessman who had been scheduled to testify against him and others in a Teamsters pension fraud case.

Halprin has said that Lombardo was in a police station, reporting stolen property, when Seifert was killed.

Schweihs, who was captured in December after being a fugitive for eight months, refused to appear in court Tuesday after pleading not guilty Jan. 7.

Zagel said he will force Schweihs to appear and a hearing is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

For his part, Lombardo seemed in good spirits during Tuesday's hearing. He raised his right hand and promised to tell "nothin' but the truth."

He told Zagel he is under care for hardening of the arteries but didn't offer a long list of health woes like some of his co-defendants.

Apart from telling Zagel that he was a high school graduate, the rest of Lombardo's statements were limited to yes or no responses.

A federal investigation dubbed "Operation Family Secrets" led to the arrests of Lombardo and other Outfit figures, including Frank Calabrese Sr. and James Marcello.

Included among the murders allegedly connected to the defendants are the 1986 beating deaths of Tony and Michael Spilotro.

Federal agents believe Tony Spilotro, a mob enforcer who ran the Outfit's operations in Las Vegas, was slain for drawing too much heat.

In a letter Lombardo penned to Zagel while he was in hiding, the alleged mob boss denied any knowledge about any of the 18 killings.

"I was not privy before the murders, during the murders, and after the murders, and to this present writing to you," the letter stated.